The homey Mistah F.A.B. stopped by SNSS this week and as is tradition with F.A.B., he blessed the mic with a crazy freestyle off the top of his head. He completely killed it, with all sorts of Seattle references for us: his cousin Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch and his 3 touchdowns in the Seahawks vs. 49ers game earlier that night, Richard Sherman vs. Skip Bayless, Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton, Tha Bizness, Macklemore, and more.

Props to F.A.B. for being one of the few MC’s brave enough to spit…and murder…a legit freestyle live on air with us. Some of your favorite MC’s have declined to rhyme live with us, and even those that do rarely do it off the top. No writtens here, just improvisational skill at it’s finest.

Normally, I’d stay completely out of the buffoonery that is the MTV Video Music Awards, but this year, everyone in Seattle paid close attention since some of our homies were up for the night’s biggest awards. Congrats don’t even seem like enough, but perhaps all caps will help: CONGRATS to Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, Zach, Jon Jon, Ray Dalton, Mary Lambert, and the entire crew responsible for “Thrift Shop,” “Same Love,” and “Can’t Hold Us.” I know MTV wasn’t ready to let Justin lose after the N’Sync reunion, but let’s be honest, Mack & Ryan deserved the video of the year too. 3 out of 6 ain’t bad though. An amazing accomplishment and one Seattle will be proud of forever.

As for the rest of the VMA’s, well, it made me think of Amy’s famous opening line to the first verse of “Me and Mr. Jones“. I will say that of all the silly memes to spawn out of the debauchery, this one of Kanye’s had me in stitches (only 5% of readers will get it, but if you do…maaaaaaan). Other than that, this article from The Onion pretty much nailed it, and expertly laid out why every commercial media source is inherently flawed when presenting you with content.

This is part of the reason we enjoy doing SNSS as much as we do. We literally have no stake in any of this, so we aren’t required to do anything other than play great music we believe in. It could be from mega-stars (Jay-Z or Drake), local artists (Royce The Choice and GMK stopped by this week), longtime industry vets (Fat Joe or AZ), up and coming MC’s (Earl Sweatshirt or Vince Staples), or even artists outside hip-hop (Janelle Monae, Yuna, Miguel, and Jose James). Whatever we like, we play.

This week, we liked some damn good records. Check ‘em out. And RIP to Aaliyah.

Shout to Kid Ink for coming through the Sound Session studio recently and chopping it up. We discussed his background and when he first realized he could make music a career, before getting in depth on the keys to his independent success and why he decided to sign with a major label. He had an interesting take on how labels are adapting to work better with artists like himself, who have a dedicated fan base before inking a deal.

Sorry for the delay, but here’s episode #418 of SNSS for y’all. Dope music from Yonas Michael, Schoolboy Q, Thunderbird Gerard, Hustle Gang, Logic, 7 G.E.M.S., MeLo-X, Shad, and more. Was planning on writing a lengthy piece on the NBA Finals, but with the delay, that’s moot. Congrats to the Heat and the greatness who is King James. He’s still not on MJ’s level though.

J. Moore and I had the chance to catch up with our homies Macklemore & Ryan Lewis at Summer Jam recently and as always with these guys, we had a great time. I wish I could have shared all of the conversations we had with them off camera, but don’t worry, there’s plenty of good stuff in this for you to check out.

We centered the discussion around their meteoric rise to superstar status, which is a bit surreal to witness since we’ve known the fellas for so long and they haven’t changed a bit since all this started. They’re still great, down to earth, regular guys…who just happen to be REALLY talented…and through an incredible mix of hard work, smart decisions, rabid fan support, and some fortuitous luck, they’re now at the top of the music industry. It’s an amazing accomplishment, and not one that can really be put in words, but we tried to wrap our heads around it a bit.

We also spoke on their first appearances on Sound Session years ago and looked towards the future with details on their tour, recording, and promotions strategies, including some insight on their next album. All in all, good times.

Thanks to Mack & Ryan for chopping it up and a special shout to Mack for his sincere appreciation he showed us at the end of the interview. Having one of our peers talk about the respect he has for SNSS and our work over the years was perhaps a pseudo Full House moment (cue the music), but it’s one I’ll remember.

Back in effect for another week, shout to everyone we chopped it up with at Summer Jam over the weekend, especially J. Cole, Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, Lee (WMG), and Noah (UMG). Great to catch up with the homies!

Check out this week’s episode of SNSSfor new music from artists like Logic, Action Bronson, J. Cole, TLC, Travis Scott, Schoolboy Q, Lupe Fiasco, Naledge, Chuck Inglish, Yonas Michael, Tanya Morgan, Wu-Tang Clan, and more. Plus, we were joined in studio by our long time friends, former KUBE 93 host Eddie Francis and local artist, who has since relocated to Los Angeles, Mr. Xquisit.

Additionally, be sure to check out last month’s Cornerstone Mixtape that J. Moore and I did if you haven’t already. You can download it here.

Plus we were joined in studio by up and coming local artist, Rasaan Heist, and his L.O.E. business partner, Tony Wroten, of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies. You can catch Rasaan peforming at our Summer Jam this weekend at the Gorge as well!

Our SNSS local song of the year a few years ago is now a smash hit on the international charts. Wow! Congrats to everyone involved, especially Mack, Ryan, and Jon Jon. This might end up being video of the year too!